remember

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rɪˈmem.bə/, US /rɪˈmem.bɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English remembren, borrowed from Old French remembrer (“to remember, recall”),^[2][3] from Late Latin rememorārī (“to call to mind again”),^[2][4][5] formed from re- (“again”) and memorārī (“to be mindful of”), from memor (“mindful”),^[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to remember”).^[2][6] The b that grew up between m and a following consonant is regular, as in number, chamber and humble.^[2] It is related to memory, memorial and commemorate.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To keep in mind, retain in the memory: before 1338, in Robert Mannyng's Chronicle of England.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

An Old English verb for the idea was gemunan.^[2] From the late 14th century remember also meant “to recall to mind”.^[2] Middle English used it for “to remind (someone)” and “to narrate”, and impersonally, as in hit remembreth me, “I remember”;^[2] the sense “to remind” survives in archaic and dialect use.^[7] “To mention” is from the 1550s,^[2] and was used until 1626.^[8] From 1467 it could mean to give someone a gift, tip or legacy,^[8] and since 1479 it has meant to mention in prayer.^[8] Remembrance is older than the verb, probably from before 1300,^[3] and a remembrancer, an official who collected dues, is from the 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1300 – remembrance.^[3]
• before 1338 – to keep in mind (Mannyng).^[3]
• late 14th century – to recall to mind.^[2]
• 1467 – to give a gift or tip to.^[8]
• 1479 – to mention in prayer.^[8]
• 1550s – to mention.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To bring back to mind; to think of again.
2. To keep in the memory; not to forget.
3. To have the power of memory.
4. To keep someone in mind as worthy of reward, as in a will, or to give a tip to.
5. To pass on greetings from: remember me to them.
6. To commemorate.

Word family

• rememberability
• rememberable
• rememberer
• unremembered
• unremembering
• disremember
• misremember
• remembrance

Related words

• memory
• memorial
• remind
• commemorate
• recollect

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary groups remember with bethink, recall and recollect, all meaning to bring a thought back to mind.^[9] Etymonline quotes an older distinction: what one remembers recurs without effort, while what one recollects is brought back by an effort of the mind.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin